Topic: Holy Grail ? any one seen this website before?

[prawnsalad]

I found this page before this site and so tried it early on. The onion paste adds a lot of time to the cooking process and its tricky to avoid over drying it in parts leaving hard bits in the final sauce and I found it made zero difference in taste.

[curryhell]

I too found this site some years ago whilst on the Holy Grail trail.  For those new to curry cooking, it will have its uses unless they arrrive at CRO first ;D.  Did the onion paste, time consuming process.  Must confess, it did add a certain "something".  I agree onions are the most wonderfull vegetable and so versatile.   But one thing i did take away from the site, which i am still experimenting with, is the use of cinnamon powder. .  A former X of mine detected its presence in some of the dishes from one of my local BIR's.  Her sense of taste is pretty much akin to a bloodhound's sense of smell. If i have any breakthroughs with the cinnamon thing I'll let everybody know.  Maybe other members out there have some knowledge or have already experimented with this???  It would be interesting to hear . 

[Peripatetic Phil]

Not powder but sticks : would his sense of smell/taste differentiate ?
** Phil.

[curryhell]

Not powder but sticks : would his sense of smell/taste differentiate ?
** Phil.

She is good, but i doubt that good   Anyway, powder or  whole,  its presence is currently intriguing me.  And just for good measure, to add to my intrigue, somebody starts talking about garam masala being added to the base sauce.  And we all know that most garam masala mixes normally contain cinnamon in some quantity ;D.  Sure this will keep me busy for a while.  Hopefully,  it won't prove to be yet another red herring

[parker21]

hi ch i uses about 500ml of spiced water containing cinnamon bark, bay leaves, green cardamoms, star anise and a clove. i just boil a kettle and infuse them in it for 20 mins then strain it and add to the cooking onions, pepper and carrot. i would add them to the base but trying to find them before blending is hard work have used a muslin cloth you could try using just the cinnamon and cardamoms and bay though. although you could fry the in oil before adding the onions etc to the pan at the start of the base making but remove before blending. i think using the bark would be the way forward for you as its flavour and aroma would come through better than the powder.
hope this helps
gary

[curryhell]

Why are the possibilities always so endless? ;D  I think i'll try your suggestions Gary and feedback over my next couple of bases.  I am inclined to include some black cardamons as well as i think there may be some milage in using them too! :